UK travellers should not pay websites claiming to sell the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), ABTA has warned. The system is not open for applications and the European Union has not given an official launch date. More than 150 websites are said to be presenting themselves as places where an authorisation can be bought, despite there being no application process available yet.
What travellers need to know now
ETIAS is a planned pre-travel authorisation for visa-exempt visitors to participating European countries. It is not a visa, and it is not currently required or available. The warning is therefore not to complete a form through a purported agent or pay an advance fee in anticipation of a launch. Until the EU opens the official system and publishes its requirements and start date, claims that a traveller can secure an ETIAS now should be treated with caution.
The distinction matters because the planned authorisation is real, even though it cannot yet be obtained. That creates an opening for websites to use official-sounding language, imitate the prospect of an application service or charge for a service that has no live government process behind it. ABTA’s figure of more than 150 such sites describes websites purporting to sell the authorisation; it is not evidence that every site has committed an offence, nor does it establish that a particular visitor has had personal information stolen. Travellers should avoid submitting passport or payment details to a site claiming to issue ETIAS before the official system opens.
Why the timetable has shifted
The delay is linked to the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), a separate border process involving the registration of non-EU visitors entering and leaving participating countries. ETIAS is intended to follow that system, rather than operate as a stand-alone service ahead of it. The EES rollout has been uneven, and contingency measures have allowed some border checks to be suspended temporarily when queues or operational pressure required it. That uneven start has complicated planning for the next stage.
Neither development means that the ETIAS requirement has been cancelled. It means the earlier expectation of a late-2026 start is no longer a reliable date on which to plan or buy anything. The EU has not replaced it with a confirmed launch date. Travellers should use the current status, not an old forecast repeated on a commercial website, when deciding whether a payment request is genuine.
Who may need authorisation later
Once ETIAS is operating, it is intended to cover eligible visa-exempt travellers, including UK nationals visiting participating European destinations. The planned charge is €20, with under-18s and people aged over 70 exempt from that fee. Those age groups are nevertheless expected to need an authorisation when the system becomes active; exemption from payment does not mean exemption from the application requirement.
These are future arrangements, not instructions to apply today. The final start date and operational details need to be confirmed by the EU. Travellers with upcoming journeys should continue to check the ordinary entry conditions for their destination and carrier, and should not assume either that ETIAS is already in force or that it will never be introduced.
Keep EES and ETIAS separate
EES and ETIAS are often discussed together, but they do different jobs. EES concerns border registration and records for non-EU visitors; ETIAS is a planned pre-travel authorisation for people who do not need a visa. Confusing the two can make a delayed system appear to be an immediate new charge. The practical position is simpler: EES operations may affect border processing now, but there is no ETIAS application to buy at present.
For consumers, the safest response is to wait for a formal opening and use the official EU application channel once it is announced. A demand for money now is not proof that a launch has occurred. The warning is particularly relevant during a period when travellers may hear about new border procedures and assume that a paid authorisation is already mandatory.
